Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan

{{Infobox royalty

| name = Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan

| image =

| caption =

| issue = Zayed bin Ahmed Al Nahyan

| full name =

| styles =

| succession = Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority

| reign = November 1997 – March 2010

| reign-type = In office

| predecessor =

| successor = Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan

| father = Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan

| mother = Mouza bint Suhail Al Khaili

| birth_date = 1969

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2010|03|26|1968|12|01|df=y}}

| death_place = near Rabat, Morocco

| burial_date= 31 March 2010

| burial_place= Al Bateen, Abu Dhabi

| house = Al Nahyan family

| religion = Islam

}}

Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan ({{langx|ar|أحمد بن زايد آل نهيان}}, 1969 – 26 March 2010) was an Emirati businessman and the managing director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.{{Cite web|title=Obituary: Shaikh Ahmad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan|url=https://gulfnews.com/uae/government/obituary-shaikh-ahmad-bin-zayed-al-nahyan-1.605489|access-date=2021-08-31|website=gulfnews.com|date=31 March 2010 |language=en}}

Early life and education

Ahmed was born in 1969. He was one of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan's 19 sons.{{cite news|last=Spencer|first=Richard|title=Inside the world of the 'Kennedys of the Gulf'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/unitedarabemirates/7549943/Inside-the-world-of-the-Kennedys-of-the-Gulf.html|accessdate=15 April 2013|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=4 April 2010|location=Abu Dhabi}}{{cite news|title=Sheik Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority's Chief, Dies at 41|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/world/middleeast/01ahmed.html?_r=0|accessdate=16 April 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=31 March 2010|agency=Reuters|location=Abu Dhabi}} His mother was Sheika Mouza.{{cite book|author=Christopher Davidson|title=Abu Dhabi: Oil and Beyond|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_1ll0Y3LZoC&pg=PA101|date=September 2011|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-80033-4|page=100}} He had four full brothers, including Sheikh Saif and Sheikh Hamed.{{cite news|title=Abu Dhabi - Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Abu+Dhabi+-+Shaikh+Hamed+Bin+Zayed+Al-Nahyan.-a0315593967|accessdate=16 April 2013|newspaper=APS Review Oil Market Trends|date=21 January 2013}} Sheikh Ahmed was a graduate of the United Arab Emirates University.

Career

Sheikh Ahmed joined the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority in 1994 and worked there as a European equities analyst.{{cite news|title=Factbox: Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan|url=http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/03/30/104486.html|accessdate=16 April 2013|newspaper=Al Arabiya|date=30 March 2010}} He became its managing director and board member in November 1997.{{cite news|last=Abouzeid|first=Rania|title=Abu Dhabi Death Could Spark a Dynastic Struggle|url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1976412,00.html|accessdate=15 April 2013|newspaper=Time|date=30 March 2010}}{{cite news|title=ADIA mourns the death of Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan|url=http://www.uaeinteract.com/docs/ADIA_mourns_the_death_of_Sheikh_Ahmed_bin_Zayed_Al_Nahyan/40389.htm|accessdate=16 April 2013|newspaper=UAE Interact|date=1 April 2010}} His full-brother Hamed bin Zayed replaced him as ADIA managing director in April 2010.{{cite book|author=Sara Bazoobandi|title=Political Economy of the Gulf Sovereign Wealth Funds: A Case Study of Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CJX3v9Ubm_IC&pg=PA82|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-17019-5|page=82}}

He served as Interior Minister of the United Arab Emirates in 2004. In 2007, Ahmed was appointed the Undersecretary of Ministry of Finance and Industry.{{cite news|title=Profile: Shaikh Ahmad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan|first=Abdulla|last=Rasheed|newspaper=Gulf News|date=30 March 2010|url=http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/government/obituary-shaikh-ahmad-bin-zayed-al-nahyan-1.605489}} Sheikh Ahmed also served as chairman of the board of trustees of the Zayed Foundation for Charitable and Humanitarian Works. In addition, he was a member of the Supreme Petroleum Council.

Alliances and influence

Sheikh Ahmed had been a close ally of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed since the latter was crown prince.{{cite journal|last=Pistor|first=Katharina|author2=Kyle Hatton|title=Maximizing Autonomy in the Shadow of Great Powers: The Political Economy of Sovereign Wealth Funds|journal=Columbia Public Law & Legal Theory|year=2011|series=Working Papers|url=http://lsr.nellco.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1089&context=columbia_pllt&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.com%2Fscholar%3Fq%3Dzayed%2Bbin%2Bsultan%2Bal%2Bnahyan%2Band%2Bsuccession%26btnG%3D%26hl%3Den%26as_sdt%3D0%252C5#search=%22zayed%20bin%20sultan%20al%20nahyan%20succession%22|accessdate=16 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305053715/http://lsr.nellco.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1089&context=columbia_pllt&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.com%2Fscholar%3Fq%3Dzayed+bin+sultan+al+nahyan+and+succession&btnG=&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5#search=%22zayed%20bin%20sultan%20al%20nahyan%20succession%22|archive-date=5 March 2016|url-status=dead}} In 2009, Sheikh Ahmed was regarded as the 27th most powerful person in the world by Forbes.{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/20/power-09_The-Worlds-Most-Powerful-People_Rank_2.html|title=The World's Most Powerful People|accessdate=12 November 2009|newspaper=Forbes|date=11 November 2009}}

Death and funeral

Ahmed was reported missing on 26 March 2010 after the ultralight aircraft in which he was learning to fly disappeared while flying in Morocco.{{cite news|author=Quico Chirino|url=http://www.ideal.es/granada/v/20100330/granada/jeque-ahmed-desaparecido-desde-20100330.html|title=El jeque Ahmed, desaparecido desde el viernes, volaba con un piloto de Granada|newspaper=Ideal|date=30 March 2010|accessdate=15 April 2013}}{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/adia-nahayan-idUSLDE62P1Z920100326|title=Abu Dhabi wealth fund MD missing in Morocco plane crash|accessdate=26 March 2010|work=Reuters|first=Raissa|last=Kasolowsky|date=26 March 2010}} Soon after, the plane was found to have crashed into the lake Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, near the Moroccan capital, Rabat.{{cite news|title=UAE Prez's brother still missing, 4 days after plane crash|url=http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/uae-prez-s-brother-still-missing-4-days-after-plane-crash_615191.html|accessdate=18 April 2013|work=Zee News|date=30 March 2010}} Sheikh Ahmed's family, the Al Nahyan, have a residence on the shore of that lake, where Ahmed used to come often. The craft's Spanish pilot, his flight instructor Julio López, survived the accident and was quickly rescued. Ahmed's body was only recovered from the crash site four days later on 30 March, despite an intensive search by helicopters and divers from several countries.{{cite news|title=UAE announces death of ADIA fund chief|first=Andrew|last=England|work=Financial Times|date=30 March 2010|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8c5fd440-3c00-11df-9412-00144feabdc0.html|accessdate=30 March 2010}}{{cite news|title=Body of Abu Dhabi Fund Manager Found|first=Oliver |last=Klaus|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=30 March 2010|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304739104575153591422374762|accessdate=30 March 2010}}{{subscription required}} He was 41.

His body was returned to Abu Dhabi and funeral prayers for him were performed on 31 March at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.{{cite news|title=Sheikh Ahmed laid to rest|url=http://www.uaeinteract.com/docs/Sheikh_Ahmed_bin_Zayed_Al_Nahyan_laid_to_rest/40391.htm|accessdate=16 April 2013|work=UAE Interact|date=1 April 2010}} His body was buried in the Al Bateen cemetery.